For almost 1,800 years, the Church authorities have propagated a scenario that was crafted to fit the needs of their day. That need was to validate their institution of the Sun's Day as the Church's official day of worship and rest. In consequence of this need, they also put forth the theory that Jesus was raised from the dead on Sunday morning. Even though there is no Scriptural support for such a theory, they thrust this idea upon an unsuspecting Church.
In The Only Sign Given, Larry Wishon unravels the true chronology of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, revealing that according to the Biblical account, Jesus did not rise from the dead on Sunday morning, but at the end of the weekly Sabbath, as the first day of the week was commencing. He shows how according to the Jewish calendar of the first century, the Friday to Sunday scenario is completely out of sinc with the truth revealed in the Holy Bible.
Carefully and painstakingly studied and documented, The Only Sign Given takes you on journey through important issues. Chapter titles are . . .
- Introduction
- The Demand For A Sign
- Passover Reckoning
- Two Sabbaths
- First Day of the Week
- Calculating The Dates
- The Passion Week
- Mark 16:9
- Textual Analysis
- The Chronology
- The End Of The Matter
View Chapter Excerpts in What's Inside.
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
William Barclay, a renowned and highly respected Bible scholar of the 20th century, in his writing The Gospel of Matthew, The New Daily Study Bible, makes this observation concerning the statement of Jesus as found in Matthew 12:38-40,
Matthew says that the sign is that, as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. It is to be noted that these are not the words of Jesus, but the explanation of Matthew 1
I didn't realize that Mr. Barclay was so old. I had no idea that he was there in person to know what words were spoken by Jesus and which ones weren't. Matthew must have been out collecting taxes that day and missed that lesson. Mr. Barclay continues,
The fact is that Matthew understood wrongly the point of what Jesus said; and in so doing he made a strange mistake, for Jesus was not in the heart of the earth for three nights, but only for two. He was laid in the earth on the night of the Good Friday and rose on the morning of the first Easter Sunday. 2
According to Mr. Barclay, it is a FACT that Matthew made a mistake and misunderstood the words and intent of Jesus, but Mr. Barclay, removed by almost 2,000 years understands the words of Jesus better than the one who heard Him in person. Amazing.
Allow me to submit to you the logical outcome of such a position. If Matthew made a mistake and misunderstood Jesus, then so could Mark, Luke, John, Peter and Paul. Every word in the Bible is now up for debate as to its trustworthiness. The validity of the words of Jesus are now judged by how well they fit our own theological musings and traditions.
1 Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, The New Daily Study Bible, (n.p., Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 58
2 Ibid.
The Only Sign Given Puts The Words Of Jesus Back In His Own Mouth, After The Scholars Have Cut Them Out.
In Larry's previous book, Redigging the Wells of our Fathers, he introduced this topic of the three days and nights, although he did not deal with it as in depth as he has here. One reviewer of Redigging the Wells, commented,
"Redigging the Wells of our Fathers is not a book you can read through just once. The first time you read it, you won't be able to put it down because you will be wondering, "What else have I been misinformed about by the church?" So you will want to do the first read-through just to get an overview of the scope of the book. Then the second time you can spend more time really thinking about what Larry is saying.
This book requires a lot of thought and careful consideration. You will return to it again and again. And those are the best kinds of books--the ones who become like old friends. While reading this book, I found myself experiencing the gamut of emotions: relief, frustration, anger, joy, and vindication. Several times I thought, "I knew it! I knew something was wrong. I just didn't know what to do about it."
Larry covers a lot of ground--the Jewish roots of our faith, the schemes and abuses of the church through its history, the true body of Christ, the real meaning of the Passover, and more. But the most remarkable thing about this book is Larry's explanation of the New Covanant.
I had been brought up in the faith, studied the Bible conscientiously throughout my adult years, and considered carefully the fundamental teachings and claims of Christ. But never before reading Larry's book had I heard the New Covenant explained so beautifully. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Thank you, Larry!"
Jody Stephenson, Author of Faltering Towards Perfection.